


As the Snow Falls

by mppmaraudergirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Hogwarts, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27909130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mppmaraudergirl/pseuds/mppmaraudergirl
Summary: Lily found herself in a rather rotten mood, and disappointingly so as this was the last Hogsmeade weekend before the Christmas holiday. She should have been ducking in and out of shops, laughing, escaping, if only for a few hours, from the world that was growing ever darker. Enjoying life on the verge of seventeen with the girls she had come to consider sisters.Instead, she was on a date.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 39
Kudos: 135





	As the Snow Falls

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything related belongs first, and foremost, to JK Rowling, and then to her partnerships with Bloomsbury, Scholastics, Warner Bros., etc.

Snow fell gently, delicately kissing those it landed on. It was still early in the season, so the snow that did not fall onto the students traipsing around the village immediately disappeared when hitting the warm ground. November was fading quickly into December, and the weather went back and forth between snow and rain, whimsical and uncertain like adolescents.

In truth it was a beautiful day, or at least, it should have been.

Lily found herself in a rather rotten mood, and disappointingly so as this was the last Hogsmeade weekend before the Christmas holiday. She should have been ducking in and out of shops, laughing, escaping, if only for a few hours, from the world that was growing ever darker. Enjoying life on the verge of seventeen with the girls she had come to consider sisters.

Instead, she was on a date.

It was an impulsive decision. And one she would have gladly gone back and changed if she could. One that she probably would not have made if she had given any thought at all to the request. But suddenly, Davey Gudgeon, a seventh year who played Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, had asked her out, having successfully pulled her aside from her friends as they were heading out of the Great Hall for lessons. And she couldn’t stop thinking about the rumor Mary had been _so_ certain was true, so she said yes.

That’s how she found herself ambling alongside him down the not-yet-winter streets of Hogsmeade. They had spent the past hour in awkward, sporadic conversations as they walked by the shops. For some reason Davey never seemed interested in going into any. Her fingers were starting to grow numb as she saw The Three Broomsticks come into sight. She felt torn, no doubt in her mind who was already there. But, again, before thinking she bit out –

“Fancy a butterbeer?”

“Oh sure. Bit early for lunch, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think so.” It was only five minutes past eleven but she found she really did not care.

Davey laughed, like she was charming, before acquiescing to her request and marching onward in the direction of the pub.

The upside to their early visit to the hallowed pub was that there were still a number of tables open. She held onto her breath, and her hope, as they crossed the threshold. The bell on the door tinkled behind them just as she spotted the familiar mop of black hair near the bar. Her stomach swooped, in a way that had been growing far too familiar over the last couple months. She shoved the feeling down as Davey led her to a quaint two-person table – one of the few The Three Broomsticks had – just a few tables away from the black-haired boy.

She took her seat, purposefully forcing herself to look at Davey. He was not bad-looking, with light brown, wavy hair. He was fair like she was, with muted blue eyes and an angular chin. When he smiled at her, which he was doing at the present, dimples lined both of his cheeks.

“So, do you like Quidditch?”

She did, and told him so. It was an easy conversation for her to have even if her mind drifted to other places, even other places in this very pub. Despite herself, as she spoke her eyes looked beyond Davey’s face, over his shoulder, where James Potter sat with his three very best friends and… Anna Malone.

_Mary was right_ , she found herself thinking, though there was a little flutter of triumph in her stomach thinking about the boys also there. He couldn’t be that interested in her if they weren’t off alone somewhere, right?

Alternatively, he did love his mates, so hanging with _her_ and _them_ could mean—

“Are you all right, Lily?” Davey asked, cutting her musing short.

She realized with a blush she had been staring at Potter still. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Davey gave her an easy smile in reply, bless him. “Just saying I think the Arrows have a real shot of it this year with McDougall back in proper form. I’ve met him once, y’know? Dad’s rather good with construction charms, and McDougall has a manor out in North Sur—”

“You don’t say,” Lily said, not at all interested in where Michael McDougall, Arrows Chaser, lived, or how fancy his house was. Anna’s arm was suddenly draped over Potter’s shoulder as she leaned forward to say something to a grinning Black. “Do you mind if I freshen up in the bathroom for a mo? Before the lunch queue gets too long.”

“Of—of course not.”

He continued to have his best smile on, even as Lily got up and walked across the pub to the queue. She wasn’t wrong about the line starting. There were already five girls in front of her, which unfortunately positioned her well to see where she couldn’t prevent her eyes from wanting to go.

Anna’s arm was no longer across Potter’s shoulders, but they were now talking, faces rather close to each other. He was smirking, as usual. The smirk she was starting to get to know well herself, as they spent more time together.

Contrary to what Mary said, Marlene was confident Potter would not be taking Anna on a date. Anna was a year younger than them and in Ravenclaw. Marlene’s parents knew Anna’s, and so did the Potter’s, Marlene told her. They were all pureblood. A fact which did little to assuage Lily’s current mood. She knew it was a match that any Slytherin would approve of, him and Anna. Deep inside her, knowing the growing state of affairs in the world, she kind of agreed.

She forced herself to look away from him as the queue moved forward. Lately she found herself staring more often than not. He was fit, and while that fact was painful to admit at first, lately it had been painful to hide. They were recently partnered together for a Transfiguration project and her stupid little heart was either beating rapidly within her ribcage or soaring like going from zero to sixty on the latest Comet broomstick whenever he looked at her suddenly, or held his hand atop hers to show the correct wand movement, or said –

“Alright, Evans?”

She turned at the sound, her heart soaring. He was standing a few feet away, his lips curling up on one side in his normal challenging way. He looked no different than usual, with the exception of a dark green jumper he sported instead of his normal uniform. It brought out the green in his eyes, which glinted mischievously behind his glasses. She wanted to snog him senseless.

Instead she greeted him with a simple: “Potter.” Then noticing the queue moving, she motioned the girl behind her to go ahead. She hoped she looked casual. “Alright. And you?”

He nodded, the smirk remaining intact, “Yeah, I’m alright. Here with your friends? Haven’t seen them.” He turned to give the room a quick sweep, looking so casual it made her want to hide somewhere. She straightened her face, willing her heart to slow down. She was so bloody obvious, and he was so bloody obvious _ly_ _not interested_.

“I haven’t seen them either,” she said, utterly proud of the steadiness of her voice as his attention came back to her. “I’m here with… someone else.”

“Who?”

“Er… Davey Gudgeon, actually.”

His face looked unreadable for a split second before he turned again to search the crowd. “Are you now?”

“Ye…p.” _Nice talking to you, but I must be off. Sorry, gotta go drown myself in the toilet_.

“I hadn’t realized you were a thing,” he said. He paused, surveying the pub for a moment before turning to her again.

“First date.”

“Ah. Going well?”

_No_. “Yeah, I suppose. He’s a nice guy. Or can’t I say that, because he’s a Quidditch rival?”

Potter laughed shortly. “I’m sure Godric and Helga were mates, Evans. Now if you were dating the Slytherin Captain we may have a problem.”

Her stomach plummeted, and she forced out a nod. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about me dating any Slytherins any time soon.”

“I s’pose not,” he said. She thought he looked a little sad as he said that, and her heart dared to speed up again.

“How about you? Here with your mates?”

“Yeah, pretty standard trip to the village. Trying to get a quick lunch in before the rush. Then Christmas shopping if we can manage. Remus and Peter in particular want to find something nice for their mums, which Sirius is surprisingly good at helping with.”

“Is he really?” _And what about Anna?_

“He’s softer than he’ll ever acknowledge. And if you ever say that to him, I will _never_ admit to saying so.”

She laughed despite the nagging thought of _Anna_ in her head. “Your secret’s safe with me. Though I’m not sure I believe you entirely.”

Potter smiled. “Guess you’ll have to see for yourself someday.”

She forced herself to nod. “Maybe. Another day perhaps.”

“Right, you should be getting back to Gudgeon I suppose. He’s probably missing his… missing you.”

“Probably.” She looked beyond his shoulder, finally catching sight of Davey, who was now joined by a couple other Hufflepuff seventh years. One was sitting in her seat. “Then again… maybe not.”

Potter shot a look over his shoulder at this. “Nah. You walk over there and he’ll be sending them off, you’ll see. And if he doesn’t…”

His voice trailed off.

She paused, hopeful – but when he didn’t speak again, she prompted: “If he doesn’t?”

“He will,” he said after a moment, his hand rising to his hair before looking back at her. “Well, go on. Don’t leave the poor sod hanging.”

_Poor sod_ , _poor Davey, having to suffer through a date with me_.

“Right. Bye then.”

“See you, Evans,” he called as she walked away.

***

He watched her go, like he was a condemned man walking to his own rusty guillotine. He went between studying the sleeve of his jumper and watching, to try to avoid catching the notice of Gudgeon, who looked up brightly when Evans drew closer. The lucky sod.

As expected, the Hufflepuff friend – Abbott, or something – stood up immediately, relinquishing her seat back to her. She sat back down, saying something to him that made him laugh. James watched a moment longer as the conversation continued before heading back over to his own friends.

“You okay mate?” Sirius greeted, as he crashed back down in his chair.

“Fine,” he answered shortly, beginning to study his nearly empty butterbeer mug with more interest than necessary.

His friends continued their normal chatter around him after pausing as though waiting for him to say more. There really was nothing to say about it. At least, aloud.

So, Evans was dating Gudgeon now? It must have happened right before the weekend if he hadn’t heard about it. And he always had an open ear for rumors about Evans. He would have to actively avoid the rumor mill surrounding her now, if she was going to become Davey’s… his… James felt an uncomfortable lurch in his stomach. He couldn’t even _think_ the word.

It felt like a missed opportunity, though he felt rather stupid for thinking about it that way. Evans had given no indication that she would have even considered saying yes if he had asked her to come with him. They were sort of mates now, in any case. Mostly civil, and more often than not friendly. He wasn’t willing to risk that.

Before he thought twice, he spun in his chair and found them. He locked eyes with her, and she looked away quickly back at Gudgeon. The other Hufflepuffs were gone now, and Gudgeon was regaling some story or another that she nodded along to.

“Ah, that explains it,” said Remus.

“Evans and Gudgeon?” Peter asked, as James faced them again.

“First date,” James supplied, as though the fact bothered him little.

“She looks riveted,” Sirius commented dryly, entirely for James’ own benefit he was sure.

“Who cares? It’s not like I was going to ask her. She…doesn’t think of me like that. Probably won’t ever,” he said, again trying to sound like he cared very little either way. Suddenly he noticed the seat next to him was empty. “Oh, where’d Anna go?”

Sirius smirked. “She went off with her own mates about three minutes after you went off to chat up Evans.” James looked at him, confused. “Well, not _because_ of that, of course.”

“Think she was tired of Padfoot taking the mick,” Remus offered, leveling a look at Sirius that was mostly amusement.

“She was just paying service to her mum in the first place,” Sirius said, indifferently. “She merely tolerates us because her mother gets cross if she doesn’t play nice with _Mia’s boys_.”

“She tolerates _you_ , maybe,” Remus said, grinning, “but she’s actually mates with James.”

“Seems she found someone else who she tolerates more than Padfoot,” Peter added, nodding to direct them to where Anna now sat, giggling with Abbott or whatever his name was.

“What _is_ it with seventh year Hufflepuffs?” James asked.

His friends laughed.

“Buck up, Prongs,” Sirius said. “We could always have a go at Gudgeon after this if it would make you feel better.”

“Hex Evans’ new… new…” Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t bring himself to say the word. “That’s your counsel, Padfoot? Absolutely rotten advice.”

“Inclined to agree,” Remus said, downing the rest of his butterbeer. “So how long did Rosie say before our food would be ready?”

“Bollocks. I forgot to order.”

Their admonishments followed him as he slid off his chair and back toward the bar. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Evans heading in that direction as well, with Gudgeon calling out to her as he purposefully followed. He got to the bar and Rosmerta a few strides ahead of them, greeting her with as much of his normal gusto as he could manage while trying to hear what the Evans and Gudgeon were saying.

“Hey Rosie. Doing alright?”

“Finally decided to come up and say hello?” she greeted with a bright smile. They had built a rapport over the years, and James found himself rather fond of her.

“You know I can’t stay away for long,” he said, sounding cheekier than he actually felt. “Can we please get our usual lunch order and another round of butterbeers?”

She nodded, still smiling brightly at him, before turning her attention to the pair who had reached the bar.

“One butterbeer, please,” Evans told her, before Gudgeon could open his mouth.

“Be just a moment,” Rosmerta replied before heading back to the kitchens.

“I must _insist_ on buying, Lily,” Gudgeon said immediately once Rosmerta had walked away.

“It’s really okay, I don’t mind,” she told him, looking at neither him or James, instead staring straight ahead.

“Listen, I hadn’t forgotten yours. John brought me one, I didn’t ask—”

As he sputtered, he reached out for her hand pulling her around to look at him. James felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach as he watched Gudgeon tuck her hand into his. He forced his eyes away from them as Gudgeon made his case for why he should pay. Thankfully Rosmerta came into view with the frosted mugs of butterbeer. She carefully dropped four of them in front of him before sliding back down the counter to where the other two were standing.

Before he could stop himself, he slammed a couple coins loudly to the counter. All three turned to look at him in various states of confusion, apprehension, and annoyance.

“Thanks Rosie. I’ll take these over to our table if you wouldn’t mind bringing the food ‘round? There’s enough there for Evans’ as well.”

And without seeing the delicious shade of red that was rising on Davey Gudgeon’s agitated face, nor the confusion on Lily’s, James scooped up the butterbeer mugs and stalked away.

***

“What was he playing at?” Davey asked her, not three minutes later when they were back at their small table. It was beginning to feel more crowded by the minute, but Lily was still enjoying her butterbeer. More than usual. For some reason.

“Maybe he’s in the holiday spirit,” she offered hopefully. She pulled the mug to her lips to hide her smile, which had nothing to do with Anna Malone’s current place atop John Abbott’s lap. Certainly not. “Y’know, spreading joy and cheer. Consider yourself lucky he’s not carolling.”

Based on his face, he didn’t seem to care for that answer. “ _I_ am the one on the date with you, Lily. _I_ should have paid for your drink. It was not his place to pay for it.”

She chewed on her cheek to stop herself from her first thought. _Nor was it yours._ “Maybe he’s just trying to mess with your head before the next match. That’s coming up, right?”

She knew she had said the right thing immediately, because Davey’s attention was now fully back on her, and the ever-safe topic of Quidditch.

She did her best this time to pay him more attention, and she was doing a splendid job at it, she thought, until the table a few over started emptying twenty minutes later. With a tiny nod, Potter met her eye as he walked past their table. He looked like he was holding back a smirk, and she tore her eyes back down to her drink before her own appeared.

It was a small thing, that look he had for her, but it carried her through the rest of her afternoon date with Davey. And it was waiting for her when she got back to the common room a few hours later.

She knew, as she crashed down in the armchair across from his, braced to take him on in yet another Exploding Snap match as they listened to the Cannons get trounced by the Harpies, that she would not be having a second date with Davey. But what she didn’t know, couldn’t know, was that Davey would be the second to last first date she’d _ever_ have.

***

Snow fell in large, fluffy flakes, sticking to the hats, hair, and cloaks of the students it landed on. It was the kind of snow that formed the perfect snowball, as evident from the massive snowball fight going on at the outskirts of the village. Christmas felt imminent even though it was only late November, in no small part due to the blanket of clouds above them that promised the steady snow was there to stay.

In truth it was a beautiful day.

Lily found herself laughing, warm despite the frigid temperatures she had been walking through for an hour. Her companion dutifully carried a number of bags on his arm from the three shops they had gone through for end of term and early Christmas shopping.

“Fancy a butterbeer?” she asked him as The Three Broomsticks came into view.

“I could be persuaded,” he replied, grinning. “You look like you’re freezing, let’s get you warmed up.”

Though still too early in the day for lunch, at a quarter past eleven, they raced across the snow-covered ground and through the warm threshold of the pub.

“I’ll grab drinks. Why don’t you go take these and find a table?”

“Okay,” she agreed, grabbing the bags off his arm and heading for a small two-person table a little bit away from the bar.

She looked around the pub while she waited, though she found herself staring up at the bar most of the time, until her companion joined her again.

She greeted him with another smile, accepting the warm butterbeer in her now gloveless hands with a sigh. “Thank you, James.”

He smiled back, tipping his mug into hers. “Cheers.” He took a long sip of his butterbeer before setting it down and leaning closer to her. “So… how am I doing? As far as first dates go.”

“Utter rubbish, of course,” she replied, looking down at her drink in an effort to keep the smile from her face. “Frankly, I had expected more from you.”

He caught her eye, which broke her concentration and caused her to laugh. “We can’t all be Davey Gudgeon, Evans.”

“ _Merlin_ , I’d forgotten about him.”

“Lucky you.”

“What?” she said, biting back a laugh. “You didn’t have a date with him. At least as far as I know. So why so haunted, _Potter_?”

“Same reason as you,” he answered simply. “I was so… ridiculously jealous when you told me you were here on a date with him.”

“ _Really?_ ”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, yeah, take the mick all you want. I don’t mind.” And it sounded like he meant it.

“No, I’m serious. Were you really jealous?”

“Lily, c’mon.”

It was his earnest look that made her speak next. “I only went out with him because Mary heard a rumor that you asked out Anna Malone.”

He nearly choked on his drink at her admission. “You _what_? Me ask out Anna? Lily, I’ve been mad about you for _ages_. And Anna… Anna is like a little sister to me, you _know_ that.”

“I know that _now_ ,” she said, her voice high with defensiveness that he seemed to pick up on quickly.

“Well, that’s something, I suppose.” He went silent, introspective as he sipped his butterbeer.

“He was so angry when you bought me that butterbeer,” she said after a moment.

He smirked, meeting her eye again. “That was really just an added bonus. My ultimate goal was just to make you happy, which I seem to recall that did, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “You did then, and do now. With butterbeer and other things.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. And I could go for some ‘other things’,” she said, leaning toward him.

“Gladly,” he said before catching her laugh with his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Mutual pining ended up being a little fluffier than I originally planned, though I hope you don't mind.
> 
> Also, a guy in college did the whole buying my drink while I was in discussion with another guy - the move I gave James. And I'm married to the guy who did that move. Don't tell him I wrote this; he is never super pleased when I give his moves to James :)


End file.
